


The Past and the Present

by Midnightbytheshoreside



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Demons, M/M, Memory Loss, Mind Control, Why do i keep making depressing fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2018-09-28 14:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10121489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnightbytheshoreside/pseuds/Midnightbytheshoreside
Summary: After a particularly, heartbreaking argument, Freed is finally fed up with Laxus's attitude and disbands the Thunder Legion, forcing them to all go separate ways. Laxus is not very concerned initially, he's never truly needed them as body guards, and knows they can handle themselves. However, when the three go on a mission together but then never come back, it convinced the Lightning Dragon Slayer to pack up and head out to search for his old friend along with some other members of the guild, but what he finds appears to be more challenging than what he initially anticipated. He's going to need to dig deep in his memories with Freed to recover the past, before the present is lost forever.





	1. Prologue

“I’m just worried about them Lisana! They have not come back for a month already!” Elfman’s voice traveled across the entire guild, making a few people turn their heads towards him, including Laxus, who happened to be eating lunch close by.

“Don't worry Elfman, they’re really strong! They all have powerful magic as well as special eye magic, they can take care of themselves. At most they might be delayed, and Freed might have to set up some protective runes until the trouble blows over.” Lisana replied to which many nodded, but her older brother still seemed unconvinced, and crossed his arms.

“It's just not right. I think we should go find them, even if they’re okay” Lisana was about to shoot down his idea before Laxus decided to stand up and turned towards the two siblings.

“I’ll go with you.” He said curtly to many people surprise before he heard Gray scoff from a corner, and he glared at him.

“What, pissing them off wasn’t enough for you?” He remarked sarcastically, and Laxus would have punched his face in had he not been completely correct. Right before the three went on a mission, he had the worst argument ever with the group. Laxus knew that he's always under appreciated his friends, but a comment that was offensive in hindsight set off a yelling storm, ending with Freed disbanding the Thunder Leigon, a surprise to everyone, but mostly to Laxus. He had thought that Freed of all people would never leave him, could never hate him enough to hurt him emotionally or physically, and he never expected he would attempt to leave his side permanently, especially after promising to follow him to the pits of hell.

“Don't taunt him now, I’d actually like to go too!” A small voice came from behind Laxus, and he turned to spot Wendy standing there in her little skirt with her hands held together. “If they’re injured somehow, then I could help!” She explained quickly when Laxus gave her a confused look.

“Fine. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning.” He dragonslayer said before getting up and turning to walk out the guild.

Little did he know that he was not at all prepared to face the horrors present in the villae he would walk into in 2 days.


	2. Switch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please sign below as giving me permission to take you on this feels trip.
> 
> _____________________X
> 
> Thank you.  
> ;-;

Two days later

Laxus couldn't believe his eyes as he glanced around at the city before him.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Elfman asked, walking up behind him as Laxus sighed. The man had practically not stopped blabbering the entire way here, and although Wendy was pleasant company, he was going to fry the white haired wizard if he said MAN in his loud obnoxious voice one more time.

“Yes! It should be correct!” Wendy ran up last and checked the map one last time before nodding in confirmation and rolling the map up, attaching it to the top of her little backpack. “Maybe its just like this because of the attacks that were mentioned in the job description?” She tried but Laxus just shrugged.

“We don’t know what the mission entailed, Freed took the job description with him to make sure he followed all the rules.” He sighed then added in a mutter “because of course he would.”

Elfman just started walking again, peeking into the first house through the open window. “I don’t know, this place seems pretty deserted, but we did just reach the edge of the city, and its supposed to be decently big from what the map said. Let's just start checking!” He ran to the next house as the lightning mage’s eye twitched.

He was going to mention something about how he was already doing exactly that when suddenly he caught a whiff of smoke, and looked up to spot a large pillar of it coming from closer to the inner city, and Wendy seemed to have spotted it too. “It seems like there are people up ahead, I can smell them too! Come on, lets go see if they need any help!” She looked to Laxus as if for confirmation on the plan, and he nodded in reply.

“Now we have a MANly plan!” Elfman yelled before following Wendy towards the center, and Laxus thought for the millionth time that if there was anything he would like about seeing Freed again would be his knack for quiet conversations, although he wasn’t looking forward to the possible silent treatment and sideways glared again. No matter what, even Bickslow wasn’t as bad as this guy.

It took the group a few minutes of walking in near silence before they finally spotted the first signs of people, a small gathering of habitants of many different ages. They glanced at the fairy tail wizards with suspicion and seemed more wary than they should have. Laxus didn’t really know what to say, he hadn't really planned this far, but luckily Wendy stepped up a little, and the villagers seemed more relaxed speaking with her, for obvious reasons.

“H-hello! Are you all okay? What happened here?” She asked softly and the villagers just glanced at each other before a middle aged man pipped up. 

“You… aren't you wizards from fairytail?” He asked hesitantly, causing Wending to show off her guild mark, but instead of spreading hope like it usually does, the sight of the mark just caused the villagers to shrink back in fear.

“What's wrong? Were here to help, I promise!” Wendy sat down on her knees so she could speak to the group of sitting villagers face to face.

The man paused once again, but then sighed. “You cannot hate us for expecting the worse. We initially put the funds together to finally hire a group of fairytail wizards to help our city, since for some reason theres been many mysterious attacks lately. However, when they showed up finally, they just attacked us! Took control of our city and reduced us to the wreckage it is now…” he finished.

All three wizards looked at the man with wide eyes, then at each other, then back to the group. None of them could believe that the story was true. “What... what did they look like?” Laxus asked, quieter than in his normal tone of voice.

“There was…” the man stopped to remember clearly, then looked up suddenly “There was a man with blue hair! He had a mask covering his face, and his mark was on his tongue. Another was a scary lady wearing glasses with long, light brown hair… she had what looked like fairy wings, but not the nice kind… they were dark… and the third guy had very memorable hair at least, bright green, long and straight, with two light in bolt shaped coming from the top.” He shivered slightly “he’s the scariest… even after I ran away I could hear that demon laughing from blocks—“ The man suddenly stopped when he saw yellow sparks start flying from Laxus, causing everyone to back away.

Laxus looked beyond furious, although he still hasn't moved. “How dare you describe my friends in such ways. They may each have things that are insufferable about them, but they are not monsters. All your descriptions are wrong, especially your ones about Freed.” He crossed his arms as Elfman tried to no avail to get him to calm down a bit.

The man shook his head and turned back to the other villagers. “They can all assure you, that’s what we saw. 3 Fairytail wizards, a masked menace, a dark fairy, and a demon, that’s all we can say.”

Wendy just looked concerned and stood up, turning towards Laxus. “It's all right Laxus, I’m sure theres a logical explanation for this?” She sounded doubtful herself, before the silence was shattered by a loud laugh from over one of the buildings.

The villagers gasped and huddled together as a voice projected over the building. “That’s insanity! What logical explanations are needed?” There was another laugh “logic and laws, that’s all you folks ever talk about, so boring”

“Well you don’t need to be so loud and obnoxious about it.” Another voice came from the left, as a man stepped out of the shadows.

If Laxus had not known that man for nearly half he life, he wouldn't have recognized him at all. Bickslow was standing there with a dissatisfied look on his face. His usual helmet was switched out for a black one that was intricately decorated, but still served the same purpose, and he was wearing more formal clothing. Surprisingly the most noticeable thing was tat his tongue wasn’t hanging out of his mouth anymore, and he actually looked respectable.

“Uh… well… technically he can do what he wants, he is our leader after all!” A feminine voice now answered from the right, and Evergreen’s form landed down nearby, but there were differences with her as well. Her hair was tied up in a neat little pony tail, she was in a sweater and pants that mostly covered up all skin aside from the face, and as the villager said, large fairy wings protruded from her back, but they seemed to be glowing of darkness in the moonlight.

“Leader!? Whatever! Who cares about that! All senseless babble, do what you want!” Wendy, Elfman, and Laxus looked up, knowing by order of elimination and just by voice who the final person that was speaking was. 

Freed could be seen perched on top of the building directly in front of the fairy tail wizards, with his long green hair messy and free falling around him, still with those lightning bolts on top of his head. He still had similar clothing on, but in a much darker shade, and less near and pristine like how he would usually have everything in line. He dark purple wings spread out from his back, and he had an unsettling grin, with two sharp teeth like a wolf. The gleam of his black and purple right eye showed from next to his bangs, practically glowing in the presence of the night.

Laxus couldn't- didn’t want to believe what he was seeing in his friends: his friends that he had known for countless years, who have followed by his side and remained loyal to him. Now looking into Freed’s nearly insane glance, he couldn't even believe he was facing the same person, the same upset kid he had run into many years ago, the one that obsessed over every rule, thinking if he broke them, somehow everything would fall apart, and horrible pieces of his past would start reliving themselves. He started remembering all the things that happened, on that mission long ago when he still worked alone, until Freed’s voice brought him back into reality.

The rune wizard jumped from the building, landing with a thud onto the concrete in between Evergreen and Bickslow.

“Let's just cause some chaos, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When this story gets a little popular, I'll draw a picture of what freed looks like in this state :3 maybe lets say like... 20 Kudos?


	3. Flash Back

The moment the order left Freed’s mouth, Evergreen jumped at the wizards head on, blasting them with her signature leprechaun move, while Bickslow non-chalantly called forth his ‘babies’ to fight in his steed. The villagers scrambled away to safety as the fairy tail wizards either dodged or blocked the initial attacks. Elfman ended up tackling Evergreen into another alley, while Wendy kept trying to blow Bickslow’s little dolls out of the skies.

Just when Laxus realized that there was a missing person in the fray, he suddenly saw a hand with claws flying towards his throat, but he dodged it thanks to his amazing speed. His eyes narrowed, dissatisfied when he saw the horribly kept state that Freed was in, and that he would let whatever it was change him into this disorderly person.

On the other hand, Freed just laughed again, which gave Laxus the most unsettling feeling. Freed usually seldom laughed, and when he did it was short and quiet, barely enough to signify that he is in fact enjoying himself. The one Laxus was currently matched with reminded him of a deranged hyena.

“that's more like it! These others are no fun! One little nick to the throats and they all fell down, isn't that boring? We’ll have fun right!? And lots of it!” He grinned as Laxus frowned, but less at the fact that there were people who died by his friends hand, but rather by another line…

Past..

“Do you never do anything fun? All I've seen you do is read these stupid books!”  
“…”  
“You don't talk much do you. Ya know, if you keep this up you'll become a lot of a social shut in. Why don't you have some fun once in a while! Let loose.”  
“I… don't know. I need to do this to become stronger. Protect who I need to protect.”  
“What? You don't need to protect anyone. Hey, if you hang around me maybe I could protect you. Then you can have fun right!? And Lots of it!”  
“All right… I guess? What do you see as fun?”  
“Lets go fight someone! Preferably some annoying brats! I know a few.”  
“Um…” Freed paused for a moment, looking up at the taller lightning slayer, before tucking his book away. “All right. Whatever you want.”

Present.

Laxus blinked, just in time to find another clawed hand aiming for his throat, aiming to kill, but it was too slow. He managed to grab Freed’s wrist, pulling the insane mage towards him, ready to deliver a punch, but the sight of Freed’s untamed hair and dirty skin brought back another flashing memory.

Past.

“Why are you so dirty? What, don't you ever clean yourself? Never seen a hairbrush before?”  
“…”  
“Don't you know how to speak? You're too quiet. Hey answer me!”  
“There's no point. The other kids will just mess it up again.”  
“Pfft, then you just gotta keep cleaning till one day they give up, since they realize that you never will! Come on, I have some extra money with me, I'll get you a hair brush and some soap, just promise me that you'll always keep clean and be neater with your presentation, all right?”  
“O-okay… I can try…”  
“Good. That way you'll look super respectable, and people tend to like respectable people!”

Present.

A sharp pain made a line across his face, and in his moment of hesitation, Freed had wrenched his wrist free and gotten an attack in on Laxus, laughing all the while. Before, Laxus had enjoyed the sound of Freed laughing, it was such a rare experience, he was always such a serious kid.

Past.

“Don't you ever smile or laugh? Jeez, you're so boring.”  
“Don't you ever stop complaining?” Freed snapped but then covered his mouth, frightened.  
“Ah, don't fuss about it, I won't hit you, I promised I wouldn't remember? I'm not so easily offended like those other kids, don't worry about them. If they mess with you I'll just-“ Laxus made a punch motion with his hand, but overswung in his excitement and ended up slipping on a mud puddle. “Hey! What gives! I was having a moment!”  
A paused ensued, followed by the sound of childish laughter.  
“There you go! See I knew you could do it, you just needed a little inspiration. It would kind of suck if I had to fall just to hear you laugh though.”  
“Okay. I'll try to smile and laugh more. Then will you be happy too?”  
“Surely!”

Present.

Laxus couldn't handle it anymore, if all he ever saw in that face was the old Freed he met countless years ago, he was fighting a losing battle. He took one last look at his attacker, before closing his eyes and striking with as much force as he could possibly muster towards a friend. He felt contact finally made, but felt as if he was hurt himself as he knew he just broke an age old promise with Freed, even though Freed himself was not aware at that moment.

Past.

Freed stood by the bed, a lump in the sheets that was gently moving signifying Laxus’s presence. “I'm sorry… I couldn't do anything… I can't fight like you or be intimidating… I wish I could have helped.”  
“Nonsense, you helped! Just a little monster that's all.”  
“You have skewered perspective.”  
“Ha! I would comment that that isn't how you should treat someone that just saved your life, but I'm glad you're finally taking a bit of a stand for yourself.”  
“…”  
“Look, now that this is all done… why don't you come with me? Back to my guild, to fairy tail?”  
“I can't.”  
“Why not?”  
“The other kids will surly hurt me, from your descriptions they sound like such ruffians, especially the fire mage and the demon girl…”  
“Ah, don't worry about it! I'm stronger than those two, I can train you to make you stronger, then you can follow in my footsteps and become a powerful wizard! I wont let you say no! Like I said before, I'll make sure to protect you.”  
“…”  
“I know it may sound cheesy, but follow me, all right? If you go too far I might lose track of you, so stay by me little guy. As I said I'd never hurt you, and I'll always protect you when you need it. I'd enjoy some company. You could even start your own little group or something.”  
“Okay. I like then sound of that. Then I'll accept your promise, and I'll follow you even to the depths of hell.”  
“Great! Say… I never caught your name, we've been running around for nearly a week now!”  
“It's … Freed. Freed Justine.”  
“Nice. My names Laxus. Let's be ‘Nakama’ forever!”  
“Mmhmm!”

Present.

Laxus looked into the smoldering hole he knew contained one of his closets friends, his unofficial family. He had agreed with such difficulty to stay with him, to follow him, he wonder if it was indeed Freed that changed, or if it was he himself. The lightning dragon slayer walked over to the dent in the building, surprised when he realized that Freed was not inside anymore.

He turned to the others, only to find that Bicklow has disappeared, leaving only an out of breath Wendy surrounded by some smashed remnants of Bickslow’s wooden dolls. However, suddenly there was a crash, and the building behind Laxus broke down completely, revealing Elfman.

“I think I just caught myself a rebellions fairy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, for those haven't noticed yet, personality wise I just tried to flip them XD  
> So now Freed is a rule breaking chaos lover etc etc...


	4. Recovery

Elfman never realized how much it hurt to be stabbed by heels.

The group was bringing Evergreen a little bit further from the scene of the battle. She had her hands tied around her waist and her wings were tied down right next to her arms. However, her legs were free, and the entire trip she never gave up on kicking Elfman.

“Stop this already! Jeez, and I thought you were annoying before…” Elfman muttered but just shook his head with a slight smile. “Well, guess you haven't changed as much as I originally thought. It’s like this entire scenario happened before.” He thought back to the time on Tenrou when they had to escape Rustyrose, and Elfman had to carry a kicking Evergreen the entire time.

Right as he made this revelation Evergreen also paused and turned to him slowly “Do I know you?” She then rolled her eyes and scoffed “certainly not. Who would want to spend time with a sweaty beast like you?”

Elfman looked slightly offended as Wendy suddenly looked up. “Wait a minute! If she has even an idea that you guys have spent time together before, maybe I could use that link. Quick! Think of some other times you've spent together.” She smiled and held up her handto be ready.

The man nodded and turned back to Evergreen. “Yeah! You cant forget that we always spent time together. We went to that water park together once, and it was fun even though you turned me into stone!” He laughed loudly and although Evergreen scrunched up her eyebrows and looked annoyed, she smiled slightly as if recalling the emotions from the memory, then Wendy’s hands started to glow with magic that enveloped the dark fairy.

A few moments later, the light faded away like small fireflies floating into the sky, and Evergreen seemed to be back to normal. She blinked a few times before starting to kick Elfman again. “What are you doing, you big lug! Let me down!” She struggled as he laughed.

“See? I told you she’s not that different!” He laughed again as he untied Evergreen and let her down, and the female wizard dusted herself off before crossing her arms indignantly. Laxus just walked over and gave her a look, causin her to straighten up a bit when realizing the lightning dragon slayer was here.

“Laxus? Oh my you look a bit beat up! Who could have done this to you…?” She paused for a moment then looked around “wait… where are we?” She looked confused, and when she saw the worried expressions on her guildmate’s faces, her spirit dropped. “Who… who wounded you?” She asked again quieter as Laxus sighed.

“It was Freed.” He said to an audible gasp. “But it wasn’t… it wasn’t really him, the one we know.” He added quickly as an explanation. “There's some strange magic in this town, it turned all you guys into evil darker versions of yourselves. Elfman managed to catch you and Wendy used her healing magic to reverse the effects of the dark magic, but Bickslow and Freed are still out there.”

Evergreen just hesitated, looking a tad apologetic after hearing that she attacked her friends. “I can imagine if Bickslow’s personality has been flipped he’s actually more tame now, however, I cant imagine what Freed is like. He’s normally so tame…” She shook her head as Wendy pipped up again.

“Well, its fine now that we know how to reverse it! You've known Bickslow for a while right?” She smiled as Evergreen nodded and planted her hands on her hips.

“We’ve been friends since early childhood! We bonded over everyone else fearing us thanks to our eye magic. We used to not be able to control it very well, and there were a lot of apologies we both had to go around giving.” Though the story seemed bitter, Evergreen smiled as she reminisced.

“Great!” Elfman exclaimed. “Now we just need to go find Bickslow and put him under!” He quickly received a knock to the head from Evergreen, who huffed disapprovingly.

“Lets not harm him too much. He isn’t himself after all.” She pulled her fan seemingly out of nowhere. “We need to capture him, not knock him out.”

“How do you propose we do that?” Laxus muttered with a bitter tone. “I had to punch Freed into a building just to get him to stop attacking me like a wild cat. I don’t want to hurt them either, but it seems theres no other way.

Evergreen just shook her head. “Don't forget who’s on your side now! If what you said is true, then Bickslow wont remember who I am. All you guys have to do is get him still enough, and I’ll temporarily turn him to stone with my stone eyes.” She grinned.

Everyone else simply nodded in agreement. “It's settled then, lets go find—“ Laxus was cut off again when a wooden doll flew right as his face and he was barely able to dodge it. As he was considering how much this ‘new’ thunder legion liked to cut him off in the middle of what he was saying, another force pounded him in the back of the head, knocking him forward slightly.

“Do you take me to be stupid? That’s Freed's job.” A voice came from the top of a building, causing the group some shock. It was less how he appeared however, but more of what he said.

Evergreen’s eye twitched. “Did I hear that right? That’s not weird to hear just for me is it?” She shuddered slightly as Laxus looked just as disturbed.

“Lets just hope we never have to hear that again… Lets go!” Laxus yelled as the group powered up for their net fight, ignorant to the pair of eyes glaring at them from the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needed a little happy junk ;;


	5. The Shadow it Casts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freed is so fun to write when he is like this spare me ;;

Laxus will be honest, if it wasn't for the fact he knew how much Bickslow truly cared for his little doll 'babies', he would have crushed every last one sometime around the 10th time they ran into him.

Bickslow stood in the back passively as his dolls did all he work for him, keeping the 4 wizards on their toes for a short while and dodging any other attacks that may have made it through his annoying defense. He yawned and pulled a book out of his suit, making all the fairy tail wizards giving him a weird look.

"I never thought I would say this, but I wish he would jump around in that weird helmet of his and stick his tongue out like he used to. Seeing this is even weirder than how weird he usually is!" Evergreen exclaimed while stepping right quickly to dodge another one of the flying wooden dolls, trying to find time to accurately cast her leprechaun spell. "Ugh! It's so hard to not be able to hurt him!" She sighed.

"We've got no choice. I really don't want to hurt my friends if possible." Laxus grumbled in his deep voice, but Evergreen couldn't help but smile at the concern he still held for his friends. The thought was cut short however, when once again here was a laser beam fired at them from the formation of dolls.

Elfman looked tired and finally turned to Bickslow "stop using your toys and fight us like a real man!" He yelled only o be smacked in the face by one of the said toys.

"They're weapons, so they shall be used as such. What, does your thick skull even block your brain from having he ability to realize that weapons are for fighting?" He scoffed as Evergreen looked pissed and whirled towards him as well with a furious glare to her eyes.

"Weapons!? You don't even remember them?" She yelled causing Bickslow to look away from his book and give a sideway glance towards his former partner.

"I have no idea what you are speaking of, therefor it must hold no importance to me." He replied casually before flipping a page in his book and looking back towards it, eyes scanning the page as he resumed reading.

"You have no..." The fairy wizard looked shocked and stepped foward towards Bickslow, "they were your closest friends! You don't remember any of it!? You told us the story yourself a while after you came to the guild and joined the raijinshuu! You have to remember!" She pleaded but the man gave her no answer, but she was not about to give up so easily.

"The circus!" She yelled again, pleased to see a spark of recognition in her friend's eyes as the book he was reading slipped out of his hands and dropped to the floor, and he gave her a stunned look as she continued. "You were raised there! You made a group of close friends but... but there was a fire... they all died while you were out collecting supplies in order to perform your next show! You were devastated when hey died, but they did one thin for you. They awakened your figure eyes magic, and remained with you as the spirits in your dolls!" The others who were defending also looked towards her as she was recounting the story, and the dolls seemed to have floated still, all turned towards Bickslow as if for his next order.

"My... friends?" He shook his head "No. I don't remember such people. I have no friends! I'm perfectly capable on my own!" He said but he was clearly losing some of the composure he had gained recently. As he was about to revive the order to attack, he blue haired sky dragon slayer tackled him from behind, using the same spell as before that she used to bring back Evergreen the moment that she sensed the magic sealing his memories and true personality had weakened. After a few moments, Bickslow seemed to calmed down, then blinking a few times he looked around at his friends gathered around him with concerned looks on their faces.

"Woah. What the heck happened to you guys." He laughed and his tongue slipped out automatically as if it was just grown that way. "Haha! You should see your own mugs, you look like you've just seen a ghost or something." He smiled as Evergreen ran up and tackled him to his surprise, and he turned to the other's with a questioning glance only to see all of them, including Laxus, with a relieved smile on their faces.

"It appears you have both failed. Oh so worthless!" A familiar voice caused the group to all turn around, spotting Freed with a deranged smile still plastered to his face, hanging upside down from a street lamp. "I knew he shouldn't have trusted you two. I knew! I knew!" He laughed, covering his mouth only as a gesture.

"What the..." Bickslow looked more confused as ever as he glanced around. "Is nobody surprised, who the hell, is that Freed!?" 

"Why indeed my thick skulled brethren, has that part of your memory been wiped as well? Oh you don't need it you're as dumb as a rock with or without your memories, you big lug!" He laughed again as if his own words amused him so.

"Freed!" Laxus's voice boomed out throughout the area like his thunder does, and static electricity seemed to have started floating through the air in great amounts.

"Awww, did I offend you" he giggled and threw his hands out, though it looked weird as he was still hanging upside down by his knees. "I would love to play with you more, my little lizard, but the master will be angry with me if i stayed to play!" He swung up quickly, causing the whole group to instantly switch to a defensive position in case he attacked despite what he said.

Freed just grinned again down at the wizards below him. "I'll see you all soon! Maybe by then you all will learn how to have some fun, break some rules for once!" He blew a raspberry at them then turned around "Toodles my dears!" And with that he disappeared up in runes before anyone could make a move.

"... Am I high?" Bickslow remarked after a brief moment of awkward silence, causing everyone to sigh. At least he was back to normal now.


	6. Never Forgotten

“Are you sure were going in the right direction?”  
“Well I don’t see you helping.”  
“I’m just saying, how do we—“

“Will you two just be quiet!” Laxus yelled at the two bickering wizards, Evergreen and Elfman. They instantly quieted down, as they knew they shouldn’t get on Laxus’s bad side. He was in an especially awful mood after the run in with Freed, and the group was currently using the lightning dragon slayer’s superior nose to track the rune mage to the corrupt ‘master’ he was speaking of.

“Are we at least close? I’m getting nervous we might be running right into a trap…” Wendy said quietly as to not irritate Laxus too much. 

“I know, but we have no choice. We need to get him back.” He sounded exhausted but nobody argued with him. Wendy and Elfman did want their guild mate back, Freed had always been a pleasant presence to have around. Evergreen and Bickslow wanted their team captain back an awful lot, since he’s usually their guidance and reason, but they all knew who wanted the green haired mage back by his side again most. Despite how it may seem, Laxus really was deeply affected by Freed’s sudden tantrum and how he disbanded the group and left like that. The two have been inseparable since they met, aside from that brief period of time Laxus was exiled from the guild.

Laxus sighed just thinking about their argument, and how stupid he realized he must have been to have said what he did…

Past

“That’s it! I’m sick of this Laxus! Do you even care about it!?” The sudden outburst from the normally complacent mage cause every head in the guild to turn towards where Laxus was sitting.

Freed had been talking about the mission they were supposed to go on soon as a group, clearing up all the details and rules while Laxus was just chugging a beer, and the rune mage suddenly stood up straight and snapped when Laxus just burped right in his face, albeit by accident. 

“Of course I do, we were just going to fight something or another.” He shrugged then took another sip, thinking that this was just another one of his friend’s typical over reactions. Those tended to happen once in a while so why was this any less different.

While he was still taking gulps the mug was suddenly smacked out of his hands, making him sputter and spilling cold beer all over his clothing. “What the hell Freed!” In his one moment of anger, he grabbed the other wizard by the protruding red collar , lifting him off the ground due to their height difference. However, he was surprised to see a look on Freed’s face that he’s hardly ever seen on him before. Instead of either calm or over emotional like how the rune mage usually is, he saw layers and layers of built up silent anger in his eyes.

“Why!? We follow you everywhere, do whatever you suggest, and you put in no time or effort to show us you care!” He yelled but still with a hint of holding back in his voice. Evergreen and Bickslow were right behind Freed, and although they did not make an obvious move, it was clear they shared some of Freed’s ideals.

Laxus just scoffed. He was supposed to be relaxing and was getting slightly tipsy, so he was simply wondering why Freed absolutely had to annoy him right now. “Look, I never asked you guys to play body guard around me, you’re the ones always tagging along.” He grabbed a towel from Mirajane and started drying off some of the beer that was spilled.

“Is that really it?” Freed’s voice was quiet this time, but Laxus didn’t even seem to notice, too preoccupied with his shirt.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I could handle this myself anyways.” The second surprise of the day showed itself to him more harshly than he could have ever imagined.

Crack!

Evergreen and Bicklow backed up in shock as they watched their captain slap Laxus right across the face, leaving a red handprint across the lightning dragon slayer’s face.

“Fine then. I guess if you don’t need me I’ll just go!” He yelled coldly at Laxus. “All you do is think about yourself, that’s it! It’s always who you want to fight, where you want to go! I devoted my entire life to you back then… When you promised! You promised we would have fun together, laugh together and stick together! I admired you! But now I see all you are is a selfish, overpowered, muscle headed lizard!” 

Freed whirred around, storming towards the door. “Forget it! I don’t need you! I don’t need to keep waiting for you anymore.” He turned and stared right into Laxus’s eyes. The man had not moved an inch, completely taken back by Freed’s sudden outburst of emotion.

“I’m disbanding the Raijinshuu.” He uttered, drawing some gasps from the crowd that was currently watching the exchange. Without even saying goodbye, Freed was out the door, not even bothering to close it behind him. Evergreen and Bickslow looked at one another before following him out the door, gently closing it behind them.

Present

Laxus had just finished mentally hitting himself after reminiscing about what happened, feeling another rush of regret hat he never confronted his friend and just asked him what was going on. However, there was no more time to dwell on that.

The group had reached what looks like a guild hall, and although it was huge and seemed to have once been glamorous, it was clearly not well cared for. Not to mention, the flag that hang in front of the building that was usually supposed to have the flag’s insignia was just a black piece of cloth with no patterns or designs.

“Well, that’s unsettling.” Bickslow finally managed to say what everyone else had on their minds. Laxus just walked right up, and with an annoyed look on his face, straight up punched through the door.

“LAxus!!” Evergreen yelled as the dust started to die down. “You can’t just do that! There could be innocent people inside!” She sighed, but just as she glanced up she saw someone leaping right at her with a sword, and she was barely able to side step to dodge.

In front of the gang of fairytail wizards stood an a mass of what looked like normal people wielding weapons, but they all had that dark look over shadowing them like the rainjinshuu did, obviously under the same spell they were under. 

“Well, well, well. Looks like they came over just as you said they would, Freed.” The group parted to reveal a rather strange looking man in a tail coat. The kind of person whose aesthetic just screamed ‘look I am a bad guy’, but he looked rather calm. Laxus had no interest in him however, but was staring at the grinning wizard beside him. 

“See? I told ya so! You didn’t believe me. Laxus has the nose of a blood hound;Or I guess you could say of a dragon slayer. I told you he would find me! Probably knows my scent better than any other!” He cackled again, and although the new man shared his interest and smiled widely as well, the fairy tail wizards were not having a good time. The entire game was just changed on them.

Freed never forgot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AhahahAHAHAHA 
> 
>  
> 
> I'm totally not sorry.
> 
>  
> 
> Misleading title much ;;


	7. The Second Hardest Thing to Say is I'm Sorry

“Awww What's the matter dear? Cat caught your tongue?” Freed laughing at his own joke snapped the fairy tail wizards out of their stupor as they all glanced at each other with concern. All the other members of the Raijinshuu were recovered using Wendy’s magic when they for a connection with some memories made when they were their past self, but how could they do that if Freed still remembered Laxus and the others?

“What. Did you think I would forget? I’m not like you two numbskulls, I am not so easily messed with.” Freed’s expression all of a sudden turned solemn as he snarled. “How could I forget how you treated me.” He spat at Laxus, making the much larger lightning dragon slayer back up.

“You… Are you choosing to be like this?” Laxus asked hesitantly, not wanting to believe that his assumptions about his friend are correct before Evergreen stepped towards him. 

“How could you possibly think like that Laxus! Freed may be insufferable at times but he is no monster! I… We can’t explain his memories but I cannot believe that our captain would be like thi-“ She was suddenly cut off and in a puff of dust and a blur of green, Evergreen was thrown back into a building, cracking the walls slightly. In her place stood Freed, cracking his knuckles.

“Little ladies should know their play. You know what they say, to assume makes an ass out of u and me. I like being able to half a little fun as a side bonus!” He laughed again as Laxus turned to him, teeth clenched in fury as he tried not to tackle the rune mage right then and there for striking Evergreen, even though he knows he couldn't seriously injure the man if he tried. After all, a dragon would never damage or give up his treasure; no matter how cumbersome the treasure is or how many knights came to challenge them, the dragon will protect its treasure. Just like now how Laxus must get his rune mage back.

Freed noticed the look on the fairy tail wizard’s face, entertained by his suppressed anger before jumping out of the way as Elfman charged at him in his leopard man take over. The rune mage is slender and fast, easily avoiding the much larger man’s attacks. He held up a hand, ready to use his runes in case Elfman decided to attack him, but he charged right past Freed towards Evergreen.

Freed scoffed. Of course he would, he’s a man that actually appreciates the company of those he cares about. He turned towards Laxus and glared. He wonder if that man could actually care at all…

Past.  
“Hey, Laxus!” Freed ran over to the towering dragon slayer with a well decorated box in his hands. He had heard that it was Laxus’s birthday and had spent he last week making him a birthday gift he figured that his best friend would like.

He scurried quickly to the hunched over form that he knew was the one that saved him in his old village. He had heard that he was going through a rough patch right now due to some actions his father has recently performed, but he had no intel as to what really happened. “Laxus!”

“Not right now. I’m not in the mood.” Laxus replied gruffly. He was reapplying the bandages over his eye as it had torn off in a fight earlier. Every little thing was bothering the new ironically lightning shaped scar over his eye. Not to mention, if he didn’t have it covered people gave him weird looks, thinking he was some sort of rampant delinquent when in reality he just tripped over some loose clothing in his room and cut his face on a piece of metal that was jutting from the end of his table.

“Laxuuuuus!” Freed whined. He pulled the box out from behind his back. “Come on! I just wanna—“

The lightning dragon slayer suddenly turned around, temper snapping finally after the build up of all the pressure that’s been gathering up in him recently. He shoved the rune mage back angrily. “I said not right now!” He yelled, but his anger turned into surprise when Freed was flung back, now lying on the ground scared. The box was now on the ground, completely crushed.

“I- I’m sorry Freed, I didn’t mean to…” He dropped off. Freed had a look of horror and betrayal on his face that broke his heart, and before he had the chance to utter a formal apology, the fairy tail wizard got up and instantly sprinted away. He couldn’t believe that man!

Behind him Laxus finally broke out of his stupor and gently picked up the now ruined gift. He gently untied the bright yellow ribbon and opened the box to find some shattered pieces of plastic obviously with earbuds that were supposed o be built in.

He sighed, upset that he never got the original gift, but he knew that he had to try to make it up somehow. He took to his room and worked to fixing whatever was in the box. There was too much intricate work however, so he settled for something far more simple, making two back domes with white spikes as the decoration for the earbuds.

Present.  
Freed hissed as the memory resurfaced, and he jumped right at Laxus in his fury of remembering the moment. The lightning dragon slayer had to dodge, glad that he had his friends to deal with everyone else while he tried to speak some sense into his best friend. However, it was also his greatest fear at the moment that he wouldn’t be able to get the real Freed back. What would he do then? Would he just try to carry on his depressing life? Would he just let Freed kill him here?

He gulped. He surely hoped that the scenario would not involve into something too extreme.

“Look, Freed! I’m sorry about what I said, all right?” He kept dodging Freed’s attacks while trying to keep his voice level and sincere, which was kind of difficult considering the speed at which the angry wizard was coming at him. “I don’t know what happened to make you want to kill us like this, but I know this isn’t the real you! Whatever that man did to you he’s taking advantage of your anger!”

However, the opponent did not seem to be listening at all, but looked rather pissed off more. The rune mage drew his rapier, and for the first time Laxus noticed that it was in a horrible condition, scratches and small cracks everywhere. It gave him a small bit of hope, despite the fact that the sword was now aimed at him. It means that other than all the people he’s been scaring away after he was changed, Freed had a much tougher battle, and presumably with this mysterious guild master.

“Dark Ecriture…” 

Dammit. There’s something Laxus cannot dodge. He’s going to have to counter attack or this is going to hurt him. It shouldn’t be that hard, just a simple attack. He’s done this to many opponents. He took in a deep breath.

“Lightning Dragon.. Roar!” The large beam of energy shot from his mouth, and he cringed at the surprised expression on Freed’s face. When he missed. He can’t do it.

“Well, well, looks like somebody is losing their edge!” Freed laughed again, but shorter this time as he knew the power of Laxus’s lightning, and the horrible consequences that could have occurred if he was hit.

Past

“Listen… Laxus… I just do no think this is such a great idea!” His pleas fell upon deaf ears. Laxus was sitting at the base of a large tree in the park, headphones plugged in with those awkward domes. He never knew where Laxus got those, but it was not in his business to ask. “Look, I know you want to be mater bad, and I think you should too. Fighting our close friends is not the right way to do it…”

Freed dropped off when the dragon layer stood up and glared down at him. Electricity cracked in the air, and Freed knew he was in trouble. For once, he was actually determined to see his way through. He did not want Laxus to keep pushing him around.

“For the 3rd time, Freed, we are going rough with the plan. Those other fools mean nothing to us, they’re weak!” He yelled, turning a few heads in the park and embarrassing Freed.

“They’re not… they’re just not as strong. But its supposed o be our job as more powerful wizards to help them, Laxus, they’re our friends as well as…” His sentence dwindles and all he could do was feel a brief moment of surprise when he saw a flash of light and suddenly he was thrown to the other side of the park, hitting his side against a tree. He laid on the ground, not wanting to move, since he knew that would only make the pain from all the lightning burns he now had even worse.

Laxus waked over to Freed’s form on the ground. He felt remotely guilty about what he had done, but convinced himself it was justified. “Those others don’t matter! You live to follow me, and only me!” He screamed down at Freed’s face. He knew there was probably some jealousy in there, but he was determined not to let that show through his anger. “Now get up!”

He paused for a moment before noticing the rune mage was silent. Some panic seeped through his anger as he bent down, but the steady rise and fall of the smaller man’s chest proved to him that he simply fell asleep. Laxus sighed, realizing he probably put more force into his attack than he meant to. Many people have been talking to him about his anger issues, but he had no time to fix them with this plan he was hatching. Maybe after Fairy Tail is his, he’ll find something someway or another to get better about it. He carried Freed back to where the Raijinshuu lived, prepared he would at least get a lecture from Evergreen for what happened.

The next few hours were filled with Evergreen talking his ear off while he tried to do whatever he could to help out Freed’s wound a bit. He cringed at the irony many times since he knew he was the one that put the wounds there in the first place. 

“What do you have nothing to say?” The brunette tapped her foot as Laxus just looked exasperated. She sighed and turned to the door. “Whatever, I’m leaving. I sure hope your plan is worth all this.” She slammed the door.

Laxus just never took his eyes off the green haired wizard. “I’m sorry Freed, but I had to. I’m going to need you to finish his plan, then we can do whatever we want.” He hesitated for a moment before getting up to leave.

Present.

Laxus was getting real tired of dancing around. Both wizards had speed, yet although Laxus is faster, he didn’t have the heart to actually hit Freed, only counter his attacks. Honestly, he was getting frustrated. 

“Why can’t you just accept my apology!” He raised his volume from where it was before while dodging another one of Freed’s attacks.

“I’m sorry isn’t going to fix all the horrible and abusive things you’ve done to me! You’ve never shown me you cared at all!” He screeched right back. Laxus knew he was a bad man, but…

“I’ve changed, I swear! I do care about you, I want you to be happy. Back then I was just too steeped in my goal to become master, but I’m not doing that anymore! How can I show you I care!?” He sounded almost desperate, and although that was extraordinarily embarrassing for the slayer, he needed to get through to him.

“I wouldn’t know, you’ve never done it!” Freed charged once again, and Laxus did the only thing he could have thought to do.

He ignored all the pain when Freed’s sword went right through him, and he grabbed the Rune mage by the waist.

“What are you do—“

And he kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeeeeeet.
> 
> Side note, many people seem to forget how cruel Laxus used to be to Freed. He's threatened him with his lightning before, strikin it close to him, and after his use of fairy law actually hit him when he hobbled into the room after his own fight with Mirajane. Laxus was definitely not a nice person, I love all the character development he's had in the show.


	8. Resolution

Everyone had suddenly paused to view the scene before them in shock. To the strangers and the master of the guild, Laxus looked insane, kissing one of the most powerful of the enemy. The Fairy Tail wizards simply never expected such an act of affection from the man of lightning himself. Freed himself mainly, had never expected for his feelings for the dragon slayer to be reciprocated. He had been convinced of rejection all his life, Laxus showed no signs of having any sort of attraction for him, or anyone for that matter. 

But Freed was not ready to forgive yet.

He moved his rapier away, since no matter how angry he felt he knew he would never forgive himself if he had stabbed Laxus with it, but he forcefully shoved the larger man away and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He didn’t want the kiss if it was only an apology; If it was only because Laxus wanted to be forgiven. He had forgave too much in his life, and for once he was going to be steadfast and stand against it. 

He glared at Laxus, and although the pained expression in his eyes made his hear ache, he did not show it. “What? Did you think you could win me over with a pity kiss?” He snapped, subconsciously wondering where all this anger fueling him was coming from. “News flash, lizard brain, I’m not forgiving you this time.” He help up his rapier again, ready to fight if needed, but his opponent did not shift.

“If you really want this, if you’re choosing this, then I guess theres no choice. If this is the path you choose then I will take the others and leave, they’ve been through enough, I’ll pass the job on to someone else who will come defeat you, since I can never bring myself to harm you again.” He turned to walk away, leaving Freed in shock. Weren’t they supposed to fight? Wasn’t he supposed to laugh when Laxus finally knew the pain that he had gone through all this time of constant rejection and negligence?

The rune wizard took a silent step towards Laxus, confused. Part of him wanted to go, to run back to Laxus, to follow him once again and the other part… What was stopping him now that he knew Laxus cared?

Laxus was about to leave when suddenly he heard a thud behind him, and a scream of pain. Worried, he spun around to see Freed backed up against a wall, holding his head as if there was a battle raging on inside it. Little did he know there was.

“Freed? Freed! What’s wrong?” He started running back to other wizard before a wall of purple runes suddenly sprang up, making a wall between them, sealing Freed off from the rest of the wizards just watching to the side. Laxus helplessly tried to bang on the runes, knowing that there was no way he could break them.

A little ways away, the guild master was starting to eat irritated. “What are you doing fools? There's other wizards here! Keep fighting!” He yelled at the bunch, causing the fight on the sidelines to start up once again. He turned his attention back to Freed, knowing that the decision was now up to his to make.

The green haired wizard still seemed to be struggling on his own with his head down, but he slowly raised a hand towards Laxus. “Go… Leave here. Get out, get out with everyone else!” He managed through clenched teeth, but Laxus didn’t seem to be moved at all.

“No! Come on, Freed, you can tell me what’s wrong! Tell me what in the world is going on! Do you want to come back or not!?” He kept banging on the translucent purple wall, hoping to finally get an understandable answer. The lightning user frowned as Freed slid to the ground in a sitting position, shaking his head without any answers to any of Laxus’s interrogations.

“I don’t.. know? Augh!” He screamed out, but more in frustration rather than pain this time. “Everything has been a mess since we came here!” Laxus’s eyes widened, as with that line something clicked inside his head, and he looked towards the master of the dark guild. He knew that his magic had changed his friends, but it was clear now that he’s still got some hold over Freed, some kind of connection that is feeding this hatred Freed now feels in contrast to his desire to return to Fairy Tail. Laxus knew what he had to do, as he turned towards that guild master.

The man was busy watching the fighting before him, never even thinking that his new toy could have been temporarily out of play, and the calm, smirking face just pissed Laxus off extraordinarily. In a single step and a blaze of lightning, he closed the distance between himself and the man, taking some pleasure in the sound of cracking as he punched the man entirely out of the city. “Well, that went faster than expected.” He grinned a little to himself, guessing it was okay to sometimes lose his temper. If it was for the sake of his… friend? Loved one? He turned back again to see what condition said man was in.

Surprisingly, Freed was already up, having taken a few steps towards Laxus but seeming to hesitate in his approach. He had some minor injuries and seemed tired from his use of magic, but everything else was back to normal. Laxus closed the distance between them slowly, but kept in mind to keep a space between them.

“Listen… I’m uh…” Freed scratched the back of his and looked down, being at a loss for words. The dragon slayer couldn’t help but allow the corner of his mouth to turn up a tad, both at the revelation that Freed seemed to be back to normal, and that the usually articulate man was at a lost for words. The rune mate finally cleared his throat and looked back up again. “I apologi—”

Laxus closed the distance in one step and hugged Freed, and smiled wider as he heard the gentle laugh from him that he was used to. “It’s fine, it wasn’t your fault.” He let go and backed up, glad to see the most important person in his life smiling again without any insane gestures and expressions. 

“What, so now all I get is a hug?” Freed was obviously joking, but Laxus feigned looking offended, laughing on the inside when Freed’s expression turned into one of concern. He just chuckled before gently grabbing the man and kissing him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically the last chapter!(sorry, it was dragging on a bit XD) don't worry folks, there will be an epilogue! And hopefully soon! *glares at future me* THANK TOU ALL FOR READING!!


	9. Epilogue

“Hey, remember when you—“

“Dont, bickslow.” Freed rolled his eyes as his friend slid in next to him. Every time they see each other, he was reminding him again of this things he had done when under the influence of dark magic. “I know. It was nuts. Thanks.” He sighed and stood up, feeling still a little guilty when he saw Laxus walk back into the guild from a job.

He had done awful things to everyone, but it must have been especially heart wrenching for Laxus, especially now that he knows that he had feelings for Freed. The Rune mage sucked in a deep breath before walking over to the larger man and folding his hands behind his back. “Welcome home, Laxus!” He grinned, and felt a pang of happiness as the dragon slayer smiled back.

“It’s nice to see you smiling with no ulterior motive again, Freed.” He said then laughed when the wizard in question just exhaled and looked remotely annoyed. “Don’t worry. You know I was never mad at you for any of this.” He pulled him into a hug, causing the man’s eyes to widen in surprise.

“Well...” He wrapped his arms up around Laxus. “It’s nice to be back.” 

“NOW KISS!!” Bickslow yelled from across the room, causing Laxus to look up and frown.

“Can you... do something about him?” He asked and Freed laughed turning around and pulling out his rapier, writing out the runes for silence before applying them to his friend, who was still rapidly moving his mouth, but now no sound came out. “Why can’t you just... keep him with that all the time?”

Freed shook his head, pulling the man down and kissing him again. “I have a limit too, fool.” He rolled his eyes when it was Laxus’s turn to look surprised. “Now come on. It’s about time we got the Raijinshuu back up on a mission, isnt it? We’re going to become couch potatoes.” He walked over to the jobs listing board as Laxus smiled.

It was great to have everything back to normal again. And a little more.

**Author's Note:**

> I should write some happy Fics sometime smh


End file.
